


Homecomings

by Bitterblue



Category: Bitterblue - Kristin Cashore, Seven Kingdoms Trilogy - Kristin Cashore
Genre: F/F, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-01
Updated: 2012-06-01
Packaged: 2017-11-06 12:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/418760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bitterblue/pseuds/Bitterblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Saf's first night in the shop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecomings

The ground sways and dips under his unsteady feet. Boats will do that to a person, and years of boats leave him feeling unbalanced.   
  
He starts when she coughs, and mumbles an apology for not paying attention. His sister--his  sister , who is real and has spent years seeking him out--manages a glare.   
  
"I was saying you can stay in the back of the shop, with Teddy. He might be able to find some work for you. I don't really know how to sort this out just yet."   
  
Oh. Teddy. Her male person. As opposed to her female person. Tilda. The one who lives upstairs with his sister, while Teddy lives down here, alone, presumably. An unusual arrangement. It makes him like her. It makes him like everything about this printing shop and the quiet, secretive people who live inside it. Maybe the shop will turn him quiet, too. Or maybe the quiet is a legacy of Leck's, the sound stolen from inside buildings that had once lit up with clamour and laughter.   
  
To Bren, he nods. "I'll stay wherever you like. I'm grateful you were searching me out. I'll try to stay out of trouble."   
  
She makes an odd hitching sound before he realises she's about to cry or laugh or possibly both. "You look so much like our father," she says by way of explanation, and then turns away from him.   
  
A young man, about his own age, with dark curls and a quick grin slips beside her, wrapping his arm around Bren's waist. "You found him, then?"   
  
This arrangement just got weirder. Saf grins.   
  
The man offers his hand, and tugs a surprised Saf into a hug, abandoning an increasingly amused-looking Bren. "I'm Teddy. No, Tedren. That sounds more adult, right?" Bren laughs, now. "Okay, fine. Teddy. And you are the prodigal son returnéd home. Excellent, excellent. And we'll be sharing? I'll show you the press in the morning. Can you read? Doesn't matter, we're in the business of illegally teaching people to read anyway, so we can use you as our pet project if you can't. It'll be wonderful fun. Let's go grab a pint."   
  
Bewildered but not displeased, Saf allows himself to be led outside. He is still unsure of his footing, but with the grin Teddy keeps turning towards him, he thinks he'll find it soon enough.


End file.
